Yet perhaps the thing most against Benitez is the lack of support he has always had from those at Chelsea—both in management and the fans.

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Chelsea fans hold a sign during their team's away game to Stoke City. Chelsea would win the match 4-0.

Cries of "Rafa Out" and "there's only one di Matteo" have littered his managerial reign so far, and he has been unable to escape the stigma from being the former Liverpool manager and subsequent rival of the West London club.

Throw in the indifferent record that Benitez has had at the club so far, and it seems, for now anyway, unlikely that he will be asked to stay on.

Chelsea have bombed out in the Champions League group stage, the Capital One Cup semifinals and the Club World Cup final.

They've won won just six of their 11 league matches under Benitez. Moreover, they've dropped points against the likes of West Ham, Fulham, Southampton and Queens Park Rangers, with the latter three taking place at Stamford Bridge in front of their home fans.

The money that was spent, the position and [Club World Cup in] Japan, the African Cup of Nations. Put these things together and you will see new players and a transition period and are we doing well? We are going in the right direction.

If you analyse all the managers, how many had pre-season here? Not me. How many spent massive money here? Not me. How many managers had to go to Japan in the middle of the season with players injured and had players in the African Cup of Nations? So, it is just only me.

The reality is that if you put everything together, you will see why we are happy in the way we are doing things and the way the team is progressing. I came in the middle of the season, so I could not change too many things. I had to work with the squad I had.

Despite dropping to poor teams as mentioned above, the Blues haven't lost to a team inside the top half of the table under Benitez. In addition, they won on several difficult away trips including journeys to the Stadium of Light (Sunderland), Carrow Road (Norwich City) and the Britannia Stadium (Stoke City)—a feat that no other team has been able to do this season.

He has the Blues in up to third in the league and once again in contention for a top-four finish, though not that it was ever really in doubt for the club.

Throw in the fact that he was able to bring in star striker Demba Ba for just £7 million and, suffice to say, Benitez has done not too badly at Chelsea. The moves, the results, the current situation—all are nowhere near as bad as some portray the situation to be.

So does he deserve a new contract at the West London club?

On current results and performances, I'd say yes.

Benitez was given the raw end of the stick when he took over the club, and he's taken an awful lot of pressure and criticism as a result. Whether that was his fault or not we'll never truly know, but the fact remains that the situation upon his arrival was less than ideal.

And yet in spite of that, he's managed good results against the top clubs, and has the Blues in a strong position domestically once more.

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He might be out of the Capital One Cup and might have lost the Club World Cup, but Roman Abramovich has shown that such titles don't matter one bit to him. After all, Di Matteo won the FA Cup and he was still removed from the club in an instant.

Bentiez has done enough to prove himself worthy of hanging around at the Blues for another season—even if some of the fans don't see it that way., He has them competitive in the English competition this year, and as a result, will have them competitive and improved in Europe next season.

Whether he deserves another contract or not and whether he gets another contract or not, however, are two different questions all together.

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Does Rafa Benitez deserve a new contract?

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Jose Mourinho is seemingly the flavor of the month for the Blues and will most likely take over at Stamford Bridge at the end of the season. But that's not to say that Benitez doesn't deserve to keep his job any more or any less than the former Chelsea boss Mourinho.

The Spaniard has done remarkably well under pressure this season, and should be judged on everything that he's done at the club so far. Much of that work is no doubt still to be done, but if it continues like it has so far, the 52-year-old should definitely receive a full-time contract.

Yet Mourinho will be the new boss this summer and the Chelsea fans will no doubt rejoice at the fact that their prodigal son has finally come home.